Bristol overspend on Cerner

New figures from North Bristol NHS Trust have revealed that the organisation overspent by more than £1m on implementing Cerner Millennium.

The trust had initially planned to spend £3.9m on introducing the new electronic patient record system, but it now envisages that figure will be just over £5m.

Data contained in a finance report presented to the trust board meeting in March revealed that £4.5m was spent on the implementation in the preceding two months.

The document continued: “The forecast spend on the project is £5.1m, which represents a considerable overspend on the project as a result of the problems encountered.”

North Bristol has said that the additional expense was a result of having to provide more IT technical resource to re-launch the system, having to employ extra floor walkers to assist staff across the hospitals and additional hardware costs for equipment.

However, it stressed that funds were not diverted away from patient care to cover the cost but came from the trust’s capital budget contingencies.

Following problems with a December go-live the trust had to return to paper processes form some outpatient appointments at one stage but stressed the implementation went as planned in the emergency department, two minor injury units and more than 60 ward areas.

Chief executive Ruth Brunt said the difficulties had been overcome and the system was working across the trust.

“This was a complex and major change management programme and this new system will enable us to improve efficiency, reduce cost and provide the best standards of care for patients,” she added.